A 21-YEAR-OLD heroin addict died in “unimaginable pain” in prison as he battled to cope with going cold turkey.

Shane Brewer, of Elwell Avenue, Barwell, was found alone in his cell at Leicester Prison at 5.35pm last Friday. He was pronounced dead at 6.10pm.

Because he had not been prescribed methadone on the outside, he was not allowed the medication in prison. His only source of relief was standard painkilers.

The prison is due to change its policy on methadone in less than a month.

Shane’s grieving father, Michael, said he hoped his son’s death would serve as a warning to others dabbling in drugs.

He said his son told him he had “nothing to live for” just days before his death. He was awaiting sentencing for theft, and had been arrested last Wednesday for breaching his bail conditions.

Michael, who is separated from Shane’s mum, Fiona Black, said: “He was a loving kid, a lovable rogue - even the police would say that - but he kept going up the wrong road and he couldn’t help himself.

“The day before they arrested him, we sat and had a chat and he said couldn’t cope because he couldn’t get the help he needed.

“He kept saying he had nothing to live for because he couldn’t get off the drugs, and I told him he would be OK.

“I thought prison would help him get his life in order. I’m just so shocked, I feel empty and I feel numb.

“Having to tell his mum what had happened was the worst thing in the world. I felt so low, I’ve never felt like this before.” Mr Brewer, who has two other children, Brandon and Kylie, said his son “went off the rails” when he was 19 and got into soft drugs.

He added: “I want other people to use this to turn their lives around. Don’t do drugs, get off them.

“Drugs lead to crime and to prison. They don’t help you. I want some good to come of Shane’s death.

“The drugs made him really zombified, but he started off on softer drugs.

“He was the kind of person who would help anyone and people took advantage of that, but he was brilliant with kids. He was so clever.

“Then this year, I think that was when he started injecting himself, which made him so spaced out.

“He had no energy at all, and I saw a big change in his personality - he became more reclusive and he didn’t look after himself.

“He lived for the drugs, and that was it. That was what his life revolved around.”

Inmates at Leicester Prison are prescribed the heroin substitute methadone if they used it on the outside. Since Shane was not given the drug when he was outside prison, he could only be prescribed with painkillers.

Mr Brewer said the lack of methadone left Shane in “unimaginable pain.”